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This morning whilst walking past a well known university I witnessed some of the pickets were happily texting away on their brand new iphones with a starbucks coffee in the other hand !
Now that really is taking the p*ss after all we all know starbuks cost the earth and a tariff for an iphone costs min of £40 per month ! Shouldnt they be saving their money for a pension...
of course I am not saying all picketers have iphones....
symapathy not !
No, they should be able to choose what they spend their money on. The strike isn't claiming poverty, it's complaining about unfair treatment.
(I'm not really on either side on the strike - in some ways I agree, in others I don't. FWIW, it directly affects me as Mrs Clubber works in the NHS)
Yeah, and all those mad capitalists. Using. The. NHS. Good grief! Next thing they'll be using public roads and not private ones. Is there no end to this madness!
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1/10
poor effort.
Dry them
Ah right - so people should only strike when they are living in complete poverty?
They shouldn't cause a fuss if the government try to completely shaft their pensions because they can still afford a coffee?
Also
a tariff for an iphone costs min of £40 per month
Erm.. no it doesn't.
Stalin would be very upset indeed.
Starbucks probably gave them the coffee for free as it's good promotion, you want to start shopping around as iPhones can be had for a lot less than that. Add to that what clubber said.
"Now that really is taking the p*ss after all we all know starbuks cost the earth and a tariff for an iphone costs min of £40 per month ! Shouldnt they be saving their money for a pension..."
My i-phone costs me 18 quid a month, and lets be honest, drinking starbucks is practically a punishment. Stop talking arse, there's a good chap...
freedom of speech !
its very rude to call some one a retard ! not very PC ! (prezet -d*ck)
ah, so late - sorry
well done (almost) 😉 everyone
I can't wait til I make my first million and then I'll finally be able to get an iphone and a coffee
I am old enough to apologise prezet
Tell you what, next time you need hospital treatment, should we means test you and turn you away if you earn too much?
you can hiss all you like having an iphone is a luxury we all know if you want the latest one it either costs upfron or the tariffs are expensive...obvously if you have a trampy 3gs then you are laughing !
*i still run my trusty old blackberry
I refuse to acknowledge anything short of this
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As a 'proper' strike
Protesting against pensions/unfair wealth distribution != protesting aginast capitalism
barnsleymitch now that is astupid thing to say ! really !
That's me binners, second from the right, with the police officers testicles in my hand!
mrsconsequence has an iphone (costs less than 30 a month with insurance) and occasionally treats herself to a starbucks hot choccy. as a result she sacrifices other luxuries to make do on her poor public sector (probation) wage.
she's in work today, like all her colleagues in the prison.
out of interest, what do you do for a job mr geezer? do you own a smart phone and have you ever had an expensive coffee?
Now I am not supportive of this strike in any way. But why coffee and Iphones are relevant to you I'm not sure, they are just the trappings of modern society. The miners might have had colour TV in the 70's for example.
Are you saying the only people who can strike are those that can't afford coffee or iphones or only those that consume inconspicuously can strike?
What do you think of strikers who have parked their beemer oir 4X4 round the corner?
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you can hiss all you like having an iphone is a luxury
so they shouldn't be allowed to complain about pensions?
what if it is a 3g?
what about nokia 3310 - nobody should have to put up with a pension that means you use a nokia 3310.
ok you lot win !
i hang my head in shame !
yes we are all entitled to have what we like...iphone bmw coffee...etc etc
still no sympathy though...
Where can I get an Iphone 4s for less than £40 a month on 18 month contract?
what about nokia 3310 says it all take a hike to carphone warehouse
"barnsleymitch now that is astupid thing to say ! really !"
Just to clarify - you appeared, in your opening post, to be saying that if people appear to have material wealth (i-phones, starbucks coffee), then they have no right to strike. What I meant with my, admittedly, tongue in cheek reply, was that ... tell you what, I cant be bothered.
geezer: You seem deeply confused about the purpose of these strikes and, well, strikes in general.
They are not saying [i]"We don't have enough money to afford food".[/i]
They are saying that [i]"The government want me to pay 25% more towards my pension, then give me 12% less when I retire, and they want me to work in a physically demanding job until I am 68. And that's not a very fair deal."[/i]
How does having coffee or smartphones alter that?
barnsleymitch nor can I !
im going on strike ! oh sorry I meant on my trike...
iPhone FFS!
The new Google Nexus FTW.
When did Starbucks start selling coffee?
Where can I get an Iphone 4s for less than £40 a month on 18 month contract?
How do you know they were a 4s? How do you know what contract they had?
i never said 4s...
i never said 4s...
Yes I know that'll be why I didn't quote you.
unfitgeezer - your sympathy, or lack of it, is completely immaterial to me. A little understanding, however, would be much appreciated. As a registered psychiatric nurse with about twenty five years experience, I'm not on a bad wage (about twentynine grand a year). However, it's not about the money. I currently work in an environment where I stand a fair to middling chance of getting my head kicked in on a daily basis by some twenty year old with a personality disorder and a heavy crystal meth habit. This, as anyone who works in this field will tell you, is not that unusual. I am fifty one, and the thought of having to do this in my late sixties is a bit of a worry.
i never said 4s...
Well you're more wronger then.
Quick check shows you can have an iPhone 4 for £18.50 a month on O2 (and I'm sure there are better deals out there).
The real issue here is there do seem to be an awful lot of people about who seem to think that because they personally have been treated poorly that everyone else should be treated at least as badly if not worse, otherwise they are not entitled to complain. Monty Python "You're lucky, we used to live in a shoe box on't A1" Stylee
I had a very similar conversation yesterday with my bookkeeper, who seems to think that because her policeman ex husband is an utter cock then all other public service employees are too.
All a bit weird if you ask me.
i never said 4s...
on their brand new iphones
By implication, that's [i]exactly[/i] what you said. Frankly, I think you're talking cobblers. I don't support the strike, but the whole point is that they think they're being screwed for the future. I accept the point, just think we're all in this together.
The first and, hopefully, the last time I'll ever quote DC.
my iphone is provided by my public service employer, and I can use my employers credit card at starbucks
Unfitgeezer everytime you start one of these posts you look a little bit more ridiculous.
The real issue here is there do seem to be an awful lot of people about who seem to think that because they personally have been treated poorly that everyone else should be treated at least as badly if not worse, otherwise they are not entitled to complain.
^^ This is exactly the attitude I've come across too. I work in the private sector, yet I fully respect the hard work put in daily by our teachers, doctors, nurses, police etc. People who have put in years of life to helping others.
I wish more people in the private sector would stand up for their rights in a similar way we're seeing the public sector do. They should be an inspiration to us. Rather than just rolling over and taking it like the private sector do.
We don't live in a poor country. Quite the opposite, however the money is all in the wrong places - look at bankers bonuses, large corporate directors wages etc. Yet it's easy for the tories to take a slice from the public sector than face the wrath of the private one, the sector that funds it's own party.
Ultimately the Tories want to privatise education and the NHS. It's already happening quietly behind the scenes. If that happens we're all going to be screwed - just look at the US for an example of how a privatised health care system fails to work.
we're all in this together
Ahh yes, of course we are.
Radio 4 interviewed Gideon to Gormless this morning.
Gideon was taliking about the unprecedented size of the hole, and the austerity measures...
Talking through the "austerity", the inerterviewer put it to him that we weren't, actually, all in this together - citing that the top 1% of the country had increased their wealth by 30% [b]over the last 12 months...[/b]
Interestingly, Gideon finally moved away from the cringeworthy previous line they had been spouting about "Labour's recession"
Yeah, been thinking about that. IMO part of the problem with that is that lots of people have been pissed off by public sector workers (be that the council, bin men (I know...), hospital staff, whoever and people tend to remember that more than all the other public sector workers who've delivered them good service. Add in the 'I'm paying your wages for you to be useless' factor and you've got perfect conditions for non PS people to have a grudge against the PS as a whole.
I'm suprised that no one has pointed out the government is at the same time as screwing over peoples pensions/reirement age it is also increasing the amount of money available to people claiming benefits. Some of the people claiming benefits are young and able bodied enough to work and contribute to the tax system. That is a bit of an injustice and probably a biter pill to swallow.
We don't live in a poor country. Quite the opposite, however the money is all in the wrong places - look at bankers bonuses, large corporate directors wages etc. Yet it's easy for the tories to take a slice from the public sector than face the wrath of the private one, the sector that funds it's own party.
It's a bit lazy to point the finger at bankers, directors etc. Already there's a 52% tax rate for the highest earners, so they're paying a stack more in than they're ever going to draw.
The real point here, and it's both good and bad, is that we're living much longer. If you're going to have twice the period in retirement than you could have expected even fifteen years ago, then that's got to be paid for. Seems like it's shafting people - and it is - but there's not much alternative.
sweepy you dont know Im actually a quite a nice bloke !
these threads are more to get people thinking...and are not trolls !
everyone seems to get very angry very quickly
Add in the 'I'm paying your wages
I always like that one, like I don't pay any taxes 😀
these threads are more to get people thinking...and are not trolls !everyone seems to get very angry very quickly
May I suggest you word them better and not make generalisations based on a small observation that someone buys certain goods.
If you're going to have twice the period in retirement than you could have expected even fifteen years ago, then that's got to be paid for.
It is paid for without the need of the change to the system that's what has been said many times in other threads and part of the reason for the action.
i didnt say all strikers had iphones im sure some dont have them...some may have andriods etc
I witnessed some of the pickets were happily texting away on their brand new iphones with a starbucks coffee in the other hand !
You witnessed with your own eyes, eh? I just don't know what to say. i bet some of the lazy barsteards were wearing shoes as well. can't be that poor if they've got shoes can they? lazy, theiving.. did any of them actually have the temerity to DRIVE to this place of idleness of which you talk. sure they did. I hope that you're busy writing a stronly worded letter to the ADily mail att his very moment. makes my blood boil. Parasites
It is paid for without the need of the change to the system that's what has been said many times in other threads and part of the reason for the action
yes, but stupid people need told more than once or twice.
i didnt say all strikers had iphones im sure some dont have them
This is kind of the point.
It's a bit lazy to point the finger at bankers, directors etc. Already there's a 52% tax rate for the highest earners, so they're paying a stack more in than they're ever going to draw.
True, but there are also large numbers of those people using offshore bank accounts for tax limitation. My point was aimed at the increasing separation between us and the top earners. We have the money, but it's all tied up with the those earners.
The real point here, and it's both good and bad, is that we're living much longer
I'm not sure that's the reason. Sure we might live a few years longer than the generation back in the 70's - but not significantly longer overall. And I suspect they'll be few who'll be around until 67 to actually collect theirs. I think it's there's more of us to support - more drain on the system overall from other sources.
these threads are more to get people thinking...and are not trolls !
Best Advice: When one finds oneself in a deep, dark and damp place with a tiny dot of light overhead, its probably time to stop digging.
dark hole where ?
dark hole where ?
if you really are so dense that you attract light, you probably don't realise how deep the hole is
i must be dense then
I'm not sure that's the reason. Sure we might live a few years longer than the generation back in the 70's - but not significantly longer overall. And I suspect they'll be few who'll be around until 67 to actually collect theirs. I think it's there's more of us to support - more drain on the system overall from other sources
Life expectancy in 1975 was 72.7, so people lived, on average, 10 years beyond pension age (I'm averaging the male:female retirement ages - mathematically rubbish but you get the point).
Life expectancy in 2009 was 80.1, so people lived an extra 7.4 years. That's predicted to keep on rising for a while yet.
The point is that even "a few years longer" makes a massive difference to the pension cost. Add to that the fact that part of the reason that people are living longer is because of ever more expensive medical procedures, and you can see that those additional 7 or so years of life are hugely expensive to the country.
I'm not bemoaning this - far from it - just pointing out some basic facts. Living longer costs more. As we all want to live a bit longer, we have to face up to how we fund it.
The good news is that the later you retire the shorter your life expectancy.
So increasing the retirement age to 68/69 will bring the life expectancies back down again too - a double saving 😐
The big difference is in the number of people who survive to take their pension.
My father took early retirement at 56. He was the only one still alive from the 1946 apprentice intake.
He did have the stats from the union as to how few shipwrights lived to 60 and take their pension - it was very, very few. All those that did survived benefitted from those that contributed, but were never able to benefit...
ETA - just remembered the ubnion stats he had when deliberating about early retirement. Every year below 60 that you retired, added 4 to your expected lifespan. All those who worked to 60 were dead within a few years
"He did have the stats from the union as to how few shipwrights lived to 60 and take their pension - it was very, very few. All those that did survived benefitted from those that contributed, but were never able to benefit..."
Was there no "widows pension" back then? I'm sure that the norm is when the 'husband' dies first, the widow gain some of the pension rights. Now obviously women died younger then too, but I don't think you have painted the full picture.
Don't know the details - but widows certainly didn't get the full pension
ETA - My point was, for the pre- "baby-boomer" generation, more was being paid in than was being taken out.
ETA 2. Come to think of it, not sure that widows got anything. Pretty sure my father paid in the the Oddfellows to cover dependents???
I got the bus to town for my demo, got a mince pie and a lovely purple Unison tabard from my local rep to cover my un-designer second-hand fleece jacket, bought a coffee from an independent coffee kiosk and texted my wife on my £22 a month not-an-iphone. And I wasn't even costing the taxpayer/saving the taxpayer my exorbitant salary (delete as to which you think is more true) by being on strike: work have rostered me to do all my hours on nights over the next two weekends.
Seriously, that's my day so far. What do I win?
unfitgeezer you are on to a loser here mate in so many ways.
1) Your logic is massively flawed because having an Iphone and a Starbucks is not an indication of comparative wealth in the UK.
2) This place is packed with public sector workers so you are going to get seriously shouted down. Who else would have enough time to waste on the internet talkign rubbish (apart from rich gits)..
[/i] Your logic is massively flawed because having an Iphone and a Starbucks is not an indication of comparative wealth in the UK.
true...i was being silly